Men's Hoops Rolls to 90-55 Victory at LIU Post

Men's Hoops Rolls to 90-55 Victory at LIU Post

The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's basketball team rolled to a 90-55 victory in an East Coast Conference contest at LIU Post. Ranked #19 in this week's NABC national poll, the Spartans have now won 8-of-9 overall to improve to 13-2, while their 5-0 ECC mark is tied for first in the conference with Molloy while LIU Post drops to 0-13, 0-6. This will be the final meeting of the two rival programs at Pratt Recreation Center, as LIU Post's program will cease operations at the close of the season.

Despite their season-long struggles, the Pioneers came out ready to play as Jackson Jordan scored six points in staking the hosts to an 8-2 lead just four minutes into the game. That lead wouldn't last long as five different Spartans contributed to a 14-2, with Kam Murrell's three-pointer giving the visitors a 16-10 edge. After Post scored the next five points to draw within one, STAC pulled away with a 26-6 outburst, and a late Demetre Roberts trey opened a 42-23 gap after 20 minutes.

Roberts opened the second half with another trey and St. Thomas Aquinas never looked back, not allowing the hosts to draw closer than 19 points the rest of the way while dealing the knockout blow by closing the game with a 23-8 burst. A total of 11 different Spartans scored five or more points, with Zach Rzewnicki leading the way with 13, while Roberts (12), David Aikens (11) and Kwabena Opoku (10) contributed to the balanced attack. Alonzo Ortiz-Traylor was the standout for LIU Post, recording a game-high 26 points.

The Spartans return to action on Wednesday, January 16, hosting Queens College for another ECC battle. Double-header hoops starts with the women's teams squaring off at 5:30 pm, with the men's contest at approximately 7:30.